


Raising Chickens

by FrozenMemories



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Future, Happy Ending, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:28:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26543698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrozenMemories/pseuds/FrozenMemories
Summary: Some days the chickens still make him sad.
Relationships: Eric Jackson/Nathan Miller
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	Raising Chickens

Some days the chickens still make him sad.

He shouldn't be, Miller thinks, as he sits and watches his daughter chasing after the clumsy brown birds, their short wings flailing comically, her excited giggles sounding over the chickens' anxious cackles.

This is the dream he would escape to when he was young, forced to fight wars he wasn't mentally prepared for. No, this exceeds his dreams by far (no thoughts were spared on children at the tender age of eighteen). However, he has a daughter now, and a husband. He has a home - a real house - a garden, and chickens.

But this wasn't his dream alone. Somehow he feels as though he took another young boy's vision and borrowed it to live it out with someone else. And the chickens sometimes remind him.

"Hey," Jackson's soft voice pulls him from his reverie. He seems to know better than to comment on the somber expression Miller knows he's wearing. That's Jackson - always attuned to the undertones; he always knows what to say and when to stay quiet.

His hand comes to rest on Miller's thigh with just the barest hint of a squeeze. Miller covers it and sighs.

They watch Kelis among the flock of hens, displaying a carefreeness they both lacked, growing up in space. She'll never know the hardship or suffer the same sacrifices. Miller is utterly grateful for that.

When he turns his head, expecting a smile directed at their little girl, he finds Jackson's eyes instead focused on him. He gives the barest twitch of a smile before he leans into the comfort of Jackson's open arms, head resting against his shoulder.

"This was Bryan's dream, you know?"

He does. They've talked about it often. Jackson nods, patiently waiting until he’s ready to continue.

"Sometimes I look at the chickens and I wonder what he would be like, you know. What kind of a man he'd have grown into if he'd been given the chance."

It feels like a lifetime ago, but Jackson has known Bryan, too. If only briefly.

"I'm sure he would have loved this," Jackson says softly and holds him a little tighter, "I'm sorry he never got the chance."

Closing his eyes against the sting of unshed tears, Miller lets the words sink in. In all these years Jackson has never disregarded the lingering grief Miller carries with him. The feelings don’t rise to the surface much these days, but whenever they do Jackson is nothing short of supportive.

"I thought I'd lose you, too. It's been my greatest fear over the years," Miller admits, steering the topic away from Bryan.

"Still is," he adds in a small voice. He's always tried to be the strong one, to look forward instead of back. But sometimes the past comes haunting him and he's helpless to the thoughts weighing him down.

Jackson's lips touch his forehead and he sags into him a little further, soaking up the comfort.

"I hope you know how grateful I am you're still here."

"And I'm not going anywhere," Jackson tells him firmly.

They've made a pact, years ago, never to make promises they couldn't keep. Never to act as if their lives weren't in danger, every single day. This comes awfully close to a precarious promise but Miller lets it slide. For the past five years life on Earth has been peaceful. Safe. Their lives have been centered around thriving instead of just surviving. Their purpose has shifted, too.

Miller lifts his hand up from where it was resting in his lap and blindly caresses the side of Jackson's head.

They sit like that silently until Kelis comes bounding towards them, done playing with the hens.

"Look, I found an egg!" She exclaims happily and Miller's face lights up with pride.

He disentangles himself from Jackson and opens his arms for their daughter to run into him, laughing when she almost topples him over with the force of her excitement.

"Let's see if we can find some more and then we can make pancakes."

He presses a kiss to the top of her frizzy head and barely has time to delight in her embrace before she wriggles out of his arms to follow suit on his suggestion.

Standing up he turns toward Jackson, extending his hand to pull him to his feet as well.

"Come, help us."

Jackson follows, their hands still clasped, into the fenced-in area he's set up behind their house.

His grip tightens briefly, making Miller smile and squeeze back.

Some days the chickens still make him sad but he has his family now to remind him that life is good and worth living. There are many people he misses but he's all the more grateful for the ones who make his life so much better.


End file.
